CMHA Ontario in the News

While media coverage on mental health issues can often be negative, Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Ontario’s Mark Henick has been busy sharing an inspiring story about mental health with international audiences.

CMHA Ontario has offered its support to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) as the force launched a new mental health screening tool that will help officers assist individuals experiencing a mental health crisis receive suitable care.

Camille Quenneville, CEO, Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario told CBC Radio that Mental Health Week (MHW) 2014 is a prime opportunity for people to lose the stigma and speak about the issue of mental health.

Several individuals experiencing mental health issues had no choice but to sleep on the floor at a London, Ontario hospital while patients with physical illness were admitted into rooms with beds before them, according to an article in the London Free Press.

Employers need to focus on mental health in the workplace just like they would do physical health, states a recent article authored by Kathy Jurgens, National Program Manager for Mental Health Works – a Canada-wide program based at CMHA Ontario.

The jury in an Ontario coroner’s inquest into the deaths of Reyal Jardine-Douglas, Sylvia Klibingaitis and Michael Eligon, three mentally ill Toronto residents fatally shot by police, has released dozens of recommendations to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.

CMHA Ontario and branches throughout the province were pleased to do their part in fighting stigma and raising awareness about mental health in the fourth annual Bell Let’s Talk Day. In all, the initiative raised $5,472,585, generating an more than an astonishing 109 million text messages, mobile and long distance calls, Tweets and Facebook shares.

Kathy Jurgens, National Program Manager for Mental Health Works – a Canada-wide program based at CMHA Ontario – was recently quoted about the mental health challenges that officers face in their line of work.